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Gallery: Robots take over the world

Singer Justin Bieber unveils the mRobo Ultra Bass portable speaker and dancing robot at the TOSY Robotics booth at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center January 11, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 13 and features more than 3,100 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to about 140,000 attendees. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

A robot draws a portrait from a photograph at the Fraunhofer stand on the first day of the CeBIT 2012 technology trade fair on March 6, 2012 in Hanover, Germany. CeBIT 2012, the world's largest information technology trade fair, will run from March 6-10, and advances in cloud computing and security are major features this year.

A robot developed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology retrieves a carton of juice in a presentation on the first day of the CeBIT 2012 technology trade fair on March 6, 2012 in Hanover, Germany. CeBIT 2012, the world's largest information technology trade fair, will run from March 6-10, and advances in cloud computing and security are major features this year.

A robot said to be able to cook is taking stock of groceries in hall 26 at the world's biggest high-tech fair, the CeBIT, on March 6, 2012 in Hanover, central Germany. Brazil is the partner country of the CeBIT 2012, which is running until March 10.

A man adjusts a pole dancing robot on the stand of Tobit Software prior to the opening of the CeBIT IT fair on March 5, 2012 in Hanover, central Germany. The world's top high-tech fair opens for the public on March 6, 2012.

Japanese electronics giant Hitachi introduces the new version of the company's humanoid robot "EMIEW 2" (Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as Workmate) in an office room at the company's central laboratory in Tokyo on February 21, 2012. The 80cm tall robot equipped with a wheeled-leg type mechanism developed to get over floor level differences travels at the same speed as humans and is capable of guiding people in an office environment.

Japanese electronics giant Hitachi introduces the new version of the company's humanoid robot "EMIEW 2" (Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as Workmate) in an office room at the company's central laboratory in Tokyo on February 21, 2012. The 80 cm tall robot equipped with a wheeled-leg type mechanism developed to get over floor level differences travels at the same speed as humans and is capable of guiding people in an office environment.

Children displaced by the March 11 tsunami play with a therapeutic robot baby seal called "Paro" at temporary housing in Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture on February 11, 2012, on the 11th month anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster. The earthquake-tsunami disaster, with the prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima most affected, left more than 19,000 people dead or missing.

A master-slave robot "Telesar V," developed by Keio University's Graduate School of Media Design professor Susumu Tachi (unseen in this picture) transfers marbles from a cup to another cup for a demonstration at Tachi's laboratory in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo on February 8, 2012. The robot that mimics the movements of its human controller is bringing the Hollywood blockbuster 'Avatar' one step closer to reality. Users of the Telesar V don special gear that allows them not only to direct the actions of a remote machine, but also to see, hear and feel the same things as their doppelganger android.

Minami Sawada, an employee of Japanese weather forecasting company Weathernews displays some of the 1,000 pod-shaped pollen counting robots called 'Pollen-robot', which are ready to be shiped as nationwide monitors to observe pollen levels ahead of the coming hay fever season, at the company's headquarters in Chiba, suburban Tokyo on January 25, 2012. The Pollen-robot, which has two LED eyes and glows a range of five different colors to indicate pollen levels, will be placed outside houses and can send reports recording pollen, temperatures, humidity and air pressure to the company through the Internet.

Visitors look at a life-sized humanoid robot named 'RoboThespian', created to educate, communicate, interact and entertain, at the CeBIT IT fair on its opening day on March 1, 2011 in Hanover, central Germany. More than 4,200 tech firms from 70 countries are expected to attend this year's CeBIT, with many of the big names that stayed away during the global financial crisis returning to Germany. The fair is running until March 5, 2011.

A Honda robot named 'Asimo' performs sign langage during a demonstration of its new fuctions, at the company's laboratory in Wako city, suburban Tokyo on November 8, 2011. The new Asimo can move without being controlled by an operator after its 'intelligence' and physical ability to adapt to situations was improved.

A bomb disposal team robot carries a suspicious package as police and fire department teams remain near the evacuated Rosenbad government office building where a suspicious package was found, in Stockholm, on October 13, 2011. Police said they had evacuated parts of Sweden's government building, which houses Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's offices, after a suspicious package triggered a bomb scare.

Former New Zealand All Black fly-half Andrew Mehrtens (R) poses next to a goal-kicking robot (L) in Auckland on October 10, 2011. Part of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the event pitted Mehrtens against three robots capable of kicking penalties over the goal posts. The contest ended in a draw.

Japan's electronics giant Panasonic robot development engineer Tohru Nakamura displays the prototype model of hair-washing machine that makes 3D scanning of the user's head, shampoos and massages with 16 'fingers' at the annual Home care and Rehabilitation exhibition in Tokyo on September 30, 2010. Panasonic is expecting to put it on the market in 2012.

This photo taken on September 18, 2011 shows parents accompanying their children while watching robots performing at Center Park at the Beijing Olympic National Stadium. Initiated in 2001, the annual national science week has been held consecutively for ten years, riveting more than 600 million people who have attended the event.

U.S. President Barack Obama visits a classroom and watches students Meghan Clark and Nathan Hughes (R) demonstrate the FIRST Robot, a robot created in the school’s prototyping and robotics senior research labs for last year’s FIRST Robotics Competition, at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology September 16, 2011 in Alexandria, Virginia. Later in the morning Obama signed the America Invents Act, which reforms patent law so to give a patent to the first applicant rather than the first inventor and allows the woefully underfunded U.S. Patent and Trade Office to set and potentially keep its own fees.

Robotics student Gildo Andreoni interacts with a Dexmart robotic hand built at the University of Bologna in the Robotville exhibition at the Science Museum on November 29, 2011 in London, England. The Science Museum's Robotville exhibition showcases 20 unique and cutting-edge robots from European research laboratories, it is free to enter and runs from December 1-4, 2011.

An iCub robot built by the Italian Institute of Technology tracks and grabs a red ball in the Robotville exhibition at the Science Museum on November 29, 2011 in London, England. The Science Museum's Robotville exhibition showcases 20 unique and cutting-edge robots from European research laboratories, it is free to enter and runs from December 1-4, 2011.

The Panasonic Evolta swim robot created by Tomotaka Takahashi powers along in a pool during a press conference in Tokyo on September 15, 2011. Panasonic announed that the swim robot, along with the run robot and the bike robot will attempt a triathlon composed of a 3.8km swim, 180.2km bike and 42.2 km run in Hawaii in October.

The 'Evolta' run robot is demonstrated during the Panasonic Evolta World Challenge IV press conference at Afite Meguro on September 15, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan. The swim, bike, and run robots will be challenged to complete a 230km triathlon course in Hawaii in October of this year using only three rechargeable AA batteries. (

An assistant (L) poses next to an industrial robot with a cat head called 'Mecha-Najavu' (C), produced by Japan's Yaskawa Electric, which operates an ice shaving machine that makes a bowl of flavored shaved ice as an attraction at Namja Town theme park in Tokyo on August 16, 2011. 'Mecha' means mechanical and 'Najavu' is a Japanese cat character which is also the mascot for the theme park. The robot attracts visitors daily as people come for refreshments to beat this summer's heat wave.

A goalkeeper robot in action during a test before the RoboCup 2011 in Istanbul, on July 7, 2011. RoboCup is the largest and most prestigious robotics event and a showcase for artificial intelligence and intelligent robotics research.

An exhibitor demonstrates a robot's visual recognition capabilities at the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Shanghai on May 12, 2011. The conference, during which academic and industrial communities meet to address new challenges and share views on the industry, runs from May 9 to 13 with 'Better Robots, Better Life' as the main theme.

Robot arms holding lightsabers are on display at the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Shanghai on May 12, 2011. The conference, during which academic and industrial communities meet to address new challenges and share views on the industry, runs from May 9 to 13, with 'Better Robots, Better Life' as the main theme. AFP PHOTO / Philippe Lopez

A man takes a ball from the hand of a pattern recognition and movement coordination multi-robot during the FET11, The European Future Technologies Conference and Exhibition, in Budapest Congress and World Trade Centre on May 4, 2011. Six research projects selected to compete for two top spots in the area of research into future and emerging technologies (FET) were announced on May 4 by the European Commission at the FET11 conference and exhibition. The six contenders will receive around 1.5 million euro each to refine their proposal for one year, after which only two will be selected.

Chidren play with a robot playmate entitled 'Kibot' which has a monkey face and a display panel on its body during its launching event in Seoul on April 20, 2011. Parents can remotely control the robot by mobile phone and monitor children via a camera embedded in Kibot. South Korean telecoms operator KT rolled out a robot playmate for children in a move aimed at cashing in on the potentially lucrative industry.

A salamander-like robot from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne EPFL is displayed on April 7, 2011 at the Engineering-Ecole des Mines in Nantes, western France, during 'Bionic Robots Workshop' a meeting on biorobotic. Using animals as models for robots, scientists can use them to test biological models.

Italian professor Cesare Stefanini displays a lamprey-like robot on April 7, 2011 at the Engineering-Ecole des Mines in Nantes, western France, during 'Bionic Robots Workshop' a meeting on biorobotic. Using animals as models for robots, scientists can use them to test biological models.

Japan's robot suit venture Cyberdyne president and Tsukuba University professor Yoshiyuki Sankai stands behind an employee wearing the new optical topography device that displays brain activity with 64 LEDs for each channel in Tokyo on March 8, 2011. The new brain-machine-interface (BMI) device has been developed for the real-time analysis of brain activity that is displayed with changing differently coloured LEDs.

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